JACKSONVILLE, Alabama -- Huntsville is going back to the Northeast Regional championship game. But the return ticket didn't come without a challenge.

The fifth-ranked Panthers blew a 12-point lead in the fourth quarter, then recovered to beat No. 8 Mountain Brook 69-64 in overtime today in a Class 6A, opening-round game at Jacksonville State.

Mountain Brook (22-8) led 24-23 at halftime, but Huntsville outscored the Spartans16-5 in the third quarter, and led 48-36 with 3:41 left in regulation. That's when Mountain Brook took over, closing with an 18-6 run, capped by Collier Ogilvie's tying bucket with seven seconds left.

Huntsville (24-8) opened overtime on a 13-3 run, then held off another Mountain Brook rally.

"I feel like, toward the end of the game, we were doing everything in our power to give the game away," Huntsville coach Krystle Johnson said. "But we were able to pull through and get a victory. Right now I'm happy and frustrated at the same time."

The Huntsville win spoiled a 31-point, 12-rebound performance by Mountain Brook's Sara Carr. The sophomore had 16 points at halftime, then was shut down in the third quarter before leading the Spartans' late charge.

"She was hard to stop," Huntsville's Shaquera Wade said of Carr. "She would go get offensive rebounds. She was relentless."